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Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas represents not at all your standard startup entrepreneur. After multiple instances of individuals leaking her intimate photographs, she was "angry enough to do something about it" and turned to tech solutions for a solution.

"Those were striking images, I'm not ashamed of the pictures, I'm embarrassed of the manner that they were weaponized by an individual who I have never met," explained Madelaine.

Just over a year since founding her venture, Image Angel, which uses covert digital tracking to identify perpetrators, has won several awards and was cited as best practice in an independent pornography review earlier this year.

This represents a significant shift from her previous career in offering consensual sexual encounters, dominating clients in the world of BDSM.

A Widespread Issue

Intimate image abuse, commonly known as revenge porn, is a criminal offence with offenders facing up to two years in prison.

It is not at all an issue uniquely experienced by those in the sex industry. A report indicates that approximately 1.42% of the UK female population is affected by intimate image abuse each year.

Madelaine, thirty-seven, explained victims lived with shame and stigma. "In my view a lot of people will say, 'you put a private image out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she said.

"I demand respect, I expect consideration, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she continued. "The fact that those images could be subsequently distributed where I live or with people I love and employed to cause them pain, that's beyond, that's not my choice, that's not my mistake, that's someone being an abuser."

An Unconventional Path

Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, mainly online, for a decade and always found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a woman in control, a woman who is empowered and strong, giving my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she said.

"Some believe it's unusual but I view it similarly to a nutritionist or an accountant providing a service," she remarked.

She welcomes being something of an anomaly in the technology sector. "I understand that it's unconventional, it's crazy to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a tech company, but it took someone who has been through it to know the flaws and the modifications that needed to happen," she stated.

She maintained she was not in the least bit techy and was able to build her company after a lot of late nights, research and "bugging people" who know about tech.

How Does the Technology Work?

Image Angel can be used by any digital service where people exchange photos, for instance social connection apps, social media and websites.

When an image is viewed by a user, it is seamlessly tagged with an invisible forensic watermark which is specific to that viewer.

This invisible watermark is encoded within the digital file of the image itself and can withstand screenshots, being altered and being re-captured with a different camera.

It means that if you find out your image has been circulated non-consensually, providing the service you used has the system integrated, the viewer's details will be encoded in the image and can be retrieved by a data recovery specialist so legal steps can follow.

To date, one service has adopted her tech and she's in discussions with many others.

Proven Technology, New Application

"This technology is already in use in Hollywood, it is employed in live television so this is not brand new technology, it's just a new application and a new system," explained Madelaine.

"We have validated it, we're collaborating with a company that has decades of expertise in tech development so we are confident that this is reliable and what we now need to do is test it at scale," she added.

She expressed hope she hoped the technology would also act as a deterrent to potential intimate image abusers.

Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame

An expert from a leading helpline said she had seen first-hand the trauma and guilt this abuse caused for victims.

"If that self-blame is reinforced by a uninformed acquaintance or professional who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that guilt can really be reinforced so it's crucial that the response a victim receives is that they have not done anything wrong," she stated.

She noted it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, adding: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards addressing tech facilitated gender-based abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to tackle this alone, no one helpline, it needs to be this multi-layered response."

TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when images of her in a state of undress were shared around her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess endured in her teens and 20s that would later inform her women's rights campaigning.

"It required years, too long for someone to tell me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that was wrong'," said Jess.

She too is passionate about removing the stigma of this crime from the survivors to the offenders. "There is no offence to consensually send an photo to someone," said Jess.

"However, it is illegal to circulate that without consent and I think that should always be where the blame is," she concluded.